Finishing Question - Will Wood Bleach Work?

Sorry - not familar with using bleach. If it was mine - I'd just keep it rustic looking - ie: keep the dark areas and imperfections. If you can make the grain " pop " in the sanded-off areas - with a medium < deep golden / teak-coloured > stain - the dark imperfections become "character". Hopefully there is an area on the bottom or a scrap to allow a bit of experimenting ? John T.

I like your idea of going with a dark stain (or--see below); I can't see why you would go with light colored stain on this. It seem like that would just magnify any imperfections that may be present. You know more than I do; that is just my immediate thought. Personally, I think I would consider "painting" it, and I might run that idea by the owner. A tan with some red in it, almost matching its color now, might look very good! I painted my deck that color last year, and a piece of this sort might complement it very nicely. Maybe you gave me an idea for a project! : ) Sorry, I have no experience with wood bleach, but my gut feeling is that is the wrong direction. You would still be left with damaged wood.

-Bill

It is not my intent to go with a dark stain.

A dark piece would not match the decor of the room. That is mainly why the owner wants it lighter.

I'm not trying to fix the "damage" (i.e. character) I'm simply trying to get the piece to a more uniform color so that the remains of the dark stain doesn't show through whatever new finish is used. To be honest, I'm not even sure if wood bleach would do that, which is why I asked.

It does not look like oak to me but maybe it is the resolution. My guess would be fir maybe pine. I find it hard also to believe that the metallic third officer piece is original. It looks like some one put it there. Anyway it looks like the side of a spool to me.

Past that, what does the customer want. Explain to him what avenue you have to take. I am not sure bleach would work on the dark spots, may be a router and or a paint remover. Maybe leave that part alone. If this will continue to be a coffee table and perhaps have liquids spilled a gel varnish might not provide the protection you are looking for.

I would recommend General Finishes Arm-R-Seal for the varnish.

Stains, if this is actually oak, most any will work, gel stains being the easiest to work without lap marks. If this is pine or fir you would likely want to use a sanding sealer so that the stain will not look blotchey.

Or just varnish it. An oil based varnish, Like the on I mentioned above, will give it a natural darker warm appearance.

If you go with the Arm-R-Seal you can apply it with a rag but you will be putting on a boat load of coats to get a thick protective layer.

OR use a quality foam brush, Think Wooster brand and you may only need to put on a couple of coats. The foam brush will allow a thick coat. I try to not over work the surface so that it appears to have a layer of wet everywhere. Put it down and leave it alone till dry. Practice this technique on a scrap. You can clean the Wooster foam brush with thinner or mineral spirits multiple times. Expect to pay about $4~$5 for a brush.

When finished and the surface is dry, several days, and if it feels like it has little dust nibs wrap a piece of paper around a small block of wood and give the surface a few passes with light to moderate pressure. This almost always leaves a baby butt smooth feel.

I agree with the third officer plaque not being part of the original but that plaque screws onto this semi-circular bar that through-bolts into a U-shaped groove above the center recess. The curved bottom of the bar sure does make it seem like a handle. I assume that the "handle" is original to the piece and the plaque was added later to give the table a "nautical look".

"Boat load"? A intentional pun or just coincidence?

Thanks.

re: "I try to not over work the surface so that it appears to have a layer of wet everywhere."

I assume that this statement means that you are trying to have it appear to have a wet surface everywhere and that overworking it leaves dry-looking spots.

(It could sort of be read the other way around, so while I'm pretty sure I know what you mean, I want to be *really* sure.)

My inclination would be to go after the remaining dark areas with a Dremel. For that recess I agree, template and router would be a good option.

The Dremel for the bolt holes might work. Thanks.

I bought some flap wheel sanders for my drill press recently. I used them on the curved sections of the legs and they worked pretty well.

For the center recess, I might take a shot with them in my hand drill and see what happens.

An "oxy" bleach should take that right out. Oxalic Acid has been around as a "wood bleach" since forever. Do NOT use a chlorine based bleach. It'll unglue the wood itself (dissolve the lignin).

Sure it is. It goes with captain's chairs.

How about one of the penetrating epoxies. If you want to get really crass, a deep pour epoxy would preserve it. That is, unless it's left out in the sun, then nothing will help. Maybe a sheet of glass.

Yeah, Oxalic Acid was the kind of bleach I was curious about.

Will it change the existing color of the wood or just get rid of the remaining stain? I don't think I'll care if it lightens the wood, just want to know what to expect.

Reading material

;~0 I thought that would came back. Coincidence. The the name plate spot appears that perhaps an axle of some sort wint through the big hole and something like a roll pin through the axle to engage the surface. To perhaps wind cable back up on a spool.

That is what I was trying to say.

Precisely. Thinking back, I think I applied with a rag for the first coat, and wipe off excess, and to seal the wood. And then a second/last coat with the foam brush. Easier to get and keep that wet look if the surface is already sealed. Don't worry with how the rag coat looks, dry or wet. Let the first coat dry to the touch.

The Wooster foam brush will lay down a thick coat.

As far I can tell Oxalic Acid will not remove the remaining *finishing* stain in the crevices, just water stains or other stain caused by iron.

If you wipe it down with mineral spirits how does it look?

I understand. I think you face a tough task and I wish you luck with it. Only you and the owner appreciate the value, sentimental and otherwise, of this piece, and what you are willing to invest to save or preserve it. It reminds me a little of a cute old lamp that I picked up for $7 at an auction. After I replaced the socket, the ("lamp") cord and the shade it's cost was closer to something like $42--but it's a cute little lamp. I put lamp cord in italics, because I had never hear of "lamp cord" and presumed I could use an extension cord (nope, it didn't fit). : )

Couple of observations:

Neat project, though. I would enjoy doing it. It reminds me of a round Spanish Cedar bench I want to redo..... similarly, has the T&G mating edges. Re: bottom side view of your project.... I like your old looking work cabinet behind the table.

Sonny

Scroll through these images. The center recess and cross bar are common traits of hatch covers on old ships.

I would expect the exposed top to be more worn than the bottom, whether it was a hatch, a table, a spool. If the bottom was added afterwards, whoever did it took care to match the T&G quite nicely. It's hard to tell from the image (angle, etc.) but the size and placement are within a 1/32" in both size and placement. In addition, the wood seems to be the same in type, thickness and age.

There's lots of nails on the bottom. Maybe the nails are original and the bolts were added later or maybe they were the builder's version of Norm's "just a few brads" to hold it together while the holes were drilled and bolts inserted. Overkill, yes, but overbuilt is sometimes ok, especially on a ship.

I'm leaning towards fir also, based on the end-grain pattern

Tru dat.

I'm in agreement that the plate is not original, but the "handle bar" underneath it has a very precise fit (other than the round ends) and uses the same bolts as the ones out in the field, leading me to think that even the field bolts are original. Admittedly, the round over on the top wouldn't make it a great hatch cover, but that may have been added when it was turned into a table. Adding a nautical style name plate to a ship's hatch cover as a design feature sure does make a lot of sense. It certainly dresses up the flat handle bar a lot.

In addition, the center recess extends well into the lower boards. Even if the table was made from pieces of wood from old hatches, I can't think of why they would have recessed the bottom piece also.

I filled the cavity with scrapes and even with my smallish hands, it's hard to fully grab the handle with just a hole in the top boards. The extra depth is almost required, once again leading me to think that the top and bottom have always been part of the piece.

Ha! That's actually an old dresser. Big drawers hold lots of stuff. They've needed some reinforcement over the years, but it's a solid piece that supports that counter top quite nicely.

IME, it'll significantly lighten the color.

Looks more like this to me.